High Noon at Volterra
by Floreana
Summary: The Volterra scenes of New Moon in Aro's point of view. Starts a few moments before Edward requests an audience. Ratet T just in case for following violence. Please see the poll on my profile!
1. Prologue in the Tower

_Content: The Volterra scenes in New Moon in Aro's Point of View. Starts a few minutes before Edward requests an audience._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters, everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer._

Prologue in the Tower

I was bored. Incredible bored.

It wasn't the kind of tedium that affected Marcus. _He _was tired of life- nothing could hold his interest. Everything could hold _mine_.

It wasn't that I was superficial, but I was used to absorb everything. So my interest of everything came naturally.

I tend to see my mind as a huge enormous stock of lockers- thousands of feet high- reaching in length beyond horizon, containing so much more than 3000 years of vampire royality. Every locker had a unique code constructed of letters and numbers and signs. And I loved- no I craved and yearned filling them, adding new information, stocking the knowledge. To open new cases, create new codes.

But the last two months were worse than ever. I didn't remember the last time I moved out of my throne, has it been days or only hours? The only thing to look forward to was Heidi's arrival tomorrow afternoon. She had been to Rome to hunt down our prey, if one could call her method even a hunt. But also this was only a minimal break from the all day tedium. The guard usually a source of distraction felt the same lack of excitement and wasn't entertaining at all in these days.

I remembered a time when it was different, though. It was a time when my brothers and I functioned as an entity, as a whole. If I was the brain of our family, Caius was the arm and Marcus the heart. But his fire scrambled to ashes long ago. _I _extinguished it. _I destroyed my brother._ Did I bother? Yes. Did I regret it? No! It had been necessary then as much as it would have been now- to keep the power-to keep the body that were the Volturi function. And a body could not function without its heart- even when it was a cold one.

But I missed his happiness and my sister's joy. But I needed him too badly than I needed him to be happy- _he may not leave me_! He had a great sense of what I found difficult to fathom: The emotions behind the thoughts.

I sighed remembering.

The roller coaster that had been my favorite brother's and my biological sister's love, had undoubtedly entertained me and I missed Marcus' easy company and his attention not clouded from depression. Caius' company tired me, and so did his ever present rage and aggressiveness so close to the surface. Caius always was straight ahead. Not able to form plans that lasted longer than five minutes before put into action.

I sighed again.

That was the moment everything changed. The moment a tedious day changed into years of action and military strategy. It was the moment when Demetri entered the throne room and announced an unexpected guest.

_Author's note: So this is my first fanfiction, and I would like to know what you guys think about it, so please feel free to review. I think this story will have about five chapters in case anyone is going to read and enjoy it, that is. I am not a native speaker, so if anybody wants to help me with this story feel free to contact me. Floreana_


	2. The secessionist's son

_Authors note__: Hi everyone who is reading this story it took me years to bring up the new chapter, I know and I am sorry. But I really like to continue the story and your comments give me the confidence to do so. Thanks so much, guys. Please be nice because I didn't give it to an English native speaker to read and correct. Have fun reading. And I'll try to update soon._

_Disclaimer__: Stephenie Meyer owns it all._

The secessionist's son

„There's someone who wants to see you, masters." Demetri said approaching me quickly and holding his hand out for me, ready to be touched in this exploiting way of mine. But I was curious and I loved the game. I decided to prolong the event no matter how random it might be in the end. _Gather Information!_ It was exciting to possess both kinds of memories those that are spoken and those which are only thought. The last kind is only accessible for me.

"Who is it Demetri, bambino mio?" I asked hearing the words coming out in a whisper.

"Ahm…He says he's Edward Cullen? Demetri answered pulling back his hand irritated.

_Edward __**Cullen**__? Like in __**Carlisle Cullen**__?_ My head snapped over to my brothers. Caius was alerted. And Marcus…bored.

"He is allowed to enter." I ordered rising my voice a bit. Demetri bowed his head and in the split of a second he was back followed by the dirtiest most miserable and starved vampire I had seen in an awful lot of decades.

Though he held his head high and looked me directly in the eye. He didn't bow or showed any sign of respect to our …family._ Nasty. _I thought and that was the moment the boy grinned at me putting in all of the mischief he could muster in his current condition. _And I knew. I knew he was like me. Only…better. I wanted him in that very moment, not as a trophy, as protection like the others. I needed to control him and his ability. I knew_. _And he knew_. _Holy mother... __**Control! Control your thoughts!**_ _Get a hold of yourself. Breath._

While I recovered from the bitter taste of my own medicine the boy's grin faltered slowly until his face was the former mess again.

"So, Edward Cullen, tell me young one is it a coincident that you use the same name as my dear old friend Carlisle?

"No, Aro, it's not. Carlisle is my creator and… my father."

"Prego! That sounds like Carlisle." I laughed gleefully. "And did he send you here to be introduced to the Volturi? Why hasn't he accompanied you? It would have been _wonderful_ to see him again! You have to tell us _everything_!" I heard Marcus sighing and felt Caius' impatience.

"Won't you take my hand?" the boy muttered seeming suddenly very weak and exhausted. "I mean, I …I came here because I thought I would not have to explain anything and… I am so tired of searching for explanations." He sighed weary.

"Oh, honor me, young Edward. We have time. Don't you know we have eternity?" I laughed at my own joke.

"But I don't want eternity!" Edward yelled sounding like a dying man. "Not anymore. Never really." He added more quiet.

So he had come to be extinguished. Matter of fact.

"I see. If you really want this life to end you need good reasons. We don't give into suicide petitions that easily and without thoughts. You see you have to tell us a few things first. Most interesting: You can read minds from a distance?!"

I heard my brothers and the whole guard gasp in surprise.

"That is correct." Edward answered defeated.

"How far can you be away from the… object?"

"A few miles, but the closer I am to the _object _the more easily it gets for me."

"And _what_ do you hear?" I asked leaning forward curiously.

"Only the thoughts the person is thinking at the very moment, different than you, Aro."

I smiled at him fatherly. "And how's Carlisle? I hope nothing has happened to him…"

"No he is fine." Shame crossed the boy's features for a moment.

"And is he still… what did he call it… ah yes _vegetarian_?"

"We all are." Edward answered. _All? Interesting. I had to know how many they were._

" Seven, Aro." Edward answered immediately. _Damn I forgot again. How disturbing. Seven. Many. Large coven. I would find out more later. Patience._

"And why do you so desperately want to end your existence, by the way is it the same reason you look so _untended_?"

Edward looked me in the eye dismissive. "I'd rather show you, Aro, after all you are _yearning _to read my mind. I've got a kind of an unfair advantage, don't you think so, Aro? He lifted his chin challenging.

A few years ago I heard an expression from a very funny and outraged Mexican vampire who came here to denounce a rival. I remembered watching fascinated the wood gnome-like man bouncing furiously up and down shouting in his Spanish colored English over and over again the same sentence:"He got me by my nuts!" This expression described my current situation quite good. I _did_ want to know.

"So be it, young Edward, step closer." Relief washed over the boy's face and he cleared the distance between us. We looked at each other. I lifted my hand and after a deep unnecessary and in my opinion over dramatic breath he touched my palm with his.

And it began.


End file.
